Number: RL33592
Title: Report of the Illinois Special States's Attorney Relating to Police Brutality: A Legal Analysis of Federal Laws Implicated
Authors: Charles Doyle, American Law Division 
Abstract: On July 19, 2006, Illinois Special State's Attorney Edward J. Egan and Chief Deputy Special State's Attorney Robert Boyle, named to investigate long standing charges of police brutality by a segment of the Chicago Police Department, released their report, Report of the Special State's Attorney: Appointed and Ordered by the Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County in No. 2001 Misc. 4 (Report). The Report, the culmination of a 4-year investigation, concluded that criminal charges might have been brought in three cases of police misconduct, but in each instance were barred by the Illinois statute of limitations. Press accounts indicate, however, the Chief Deputy Special State's Attorney Boyle, the Report's co-author, suggested that a prosecution under federal RICO and Hobbs Act statutes might encounter less severe statute of limitations obstacles. This is an examination of the federal criminal statutes implicated by the Report.
Pages: 14
Date: July 31, 2006